Local Goa News

Friday, June 10, 2016

No-detention policy to continue in Goa schools

PANAJI: The department of education has stated that all the schools in the state will follow the No-detention Policy under the Right to Education Act during the ongoing academic year 2016-17.
It may be recalled that an eight-member Centre-appointment panel headed by Rajasthan Education Minister Vasudev Devnani had recommended to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development revocation of the No-detention Policy under which students could not be failed in examinations till class VIII as part of the Right to Education Act.
Director of education G P Bhat told this daily that until the Union HRD Ministry unveils a new education policy, the department of education cannot make any changes in the No-detention Policy. “We are waiting for the announcement of the new education policy and the status of the No-detention Policy in it,” he said.
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani had recently informed that the central government would soon unveil the new education policy, which would be the outcome of suggestions received from people living in 1.10 lakh villages and over 1,500 municipal bodies in the country.
Speaking further, the director of education said that the state government in its recommendation to the Union HRD Ministry had stated that the No-detention Policy should be implemented in the right spirit. “Our recommendation has supported aspects like remedial teaching for students displaying below average performance so that they would improve their performance, and could be appropriately promoted to the next class, until they reach class IX,” he added.
“The government of Goa has also recommended age-appropriate learning to be included as an important aspect in the new education policy so that the school children acquire age-appropriate skills in reading, writing and numeracy,” Bhat said, pointing out that another recommendation from the state to Union HRD Ministry discusses significance of attendance for the students, which seems to have gathered less and less importance over the years. “We have also recommended that the ministry can decide and fix the attendance percentage for school students,” he noted.
The director of education mentioned that the education secretaries from all states had a meeting with the Union HRD Minister and had shared their views on the to-be-announced education policy.